History of canadian labour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of canadian labour - Essay Example (Bitterman 4) Bitterman argues that many farmers began life in the Maritimes as employees, citing Jones’ three-tier system of those with capital who could hire other people, those who could support themselves and those who needed to off-farm work while undergoing the process of farm-making. He argues that thousands of people fell into this third category, thereby not having independence. Bitterman uses many primary sources to support this claim from document of the landlord John Cambridge to Lord Selkirk and the accounts of Kavanaugh. While these sources provide strong evidence for the initial dependence of early settlers on wages, they do not truly explode the myth of independence, since it is clear that often these dependencies were only true for as long as it took to establish the farm. Indeed Bitterman refers to wage work ‘in the early stages of farm-making’. (Bitterman 5). It is also necessary to consider the fact that these sources, while useful, are limited in scope and Bitterman expands this limited evidence to account for thousands of immigrants in this period. Bitterman also argues that independence varied depending on the yield and weather conditions and a family that one year was independent could be forced to seek paid work the next. He takes as evidence the observations of Baddeck who noted that even 30 years after settlement occupants of hundreds of farms in the area were not truly independent. Bitterman also traces the variety of labour opportunities available and the way in which the settlers moved between paid work and labour on their farms, using as evidence documents relating to the MacNutt farm among others. From ship building to textiles, the possibilities for paid employment are varied and Bitterman’s account is compelling in its completeness and usage of primary sources. However Bitterman accepts that the calculations of the degree of dependency of farmers on wages